Garment hanger cover



Dec. 27, 1966 G. M. RAPHAEL GARMENT HANGER COVER Filed April 12, 1965 RH 00. v TA a N E. Q W I AWN w/W /MJ 6 V. B

United States Patent "Ice This invention relates to a garment hanger and, more particularly, to an improved garment hanger comprising a generally triangular wire form having a downwardlyopening suspension hook extending from the top thereof and an inexpensive lightweight paper cover formed thereon for spacing the garment from the hanger to protect the garment and to provide shoulder support for the garment so as to minimize creasing thereof.

Dry cleaning establishments are today very conscious of the necessity for satisfying the customer and for returning clothing the customer in as pleasing a manner as possible. Garments such as sweaters, jackets and the like may crease in the area of the shoulders when hung on a wire hanger having a relatively narrow top surface engaging the garment. Various attempts have been made to minimize creasing of the shoulder area of garments. Wooden hangers which employ a more gracefully contoured top edge than a wire hanger have been utilized. Cardboard forms adapted to be folded and mounted over wire hangers have also been utilized. These devices, however, though satisfactory for supporting the clothes and minimizing creasing thereof have been impractical from an economic standpoint, that is, they are relatively expensive and thus, have not been widely used by the dry cleaning industry.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved covered garment hanger that is relatively inexpensive and easy to fabricate, and will provide extended support surfaces for the shoulder regions of a garment carried thereon.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved garment hanger made from a generally triangular wire frame having a paper cover thereon, said cover defining shoulder-supporting extensions for providing an extended surface area for supporting a garment to minimize creasing of the shoulders of such garment. Further objects of the invention will become more apparent hereinafter.

The specific details of a preferred embodiment of the invention and their mode of functioning will be particularly pointed out in clear, concise and exact terms in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view of a covered garment hanger of the present invention shown in use supporting a sweater or like garment;

FIGURE 2 is an elevation view on an enlarged scale of a covered garment hanger embodying the principles of this invention;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken generally on line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken generally on line 4-4 of FIGURE 1 showing a modified form of the covered garment hanger wherein the sides of the cover are not bonded both above and below the sides of the wire frame as in FIGURE 3, and illustrating the position of the shoulder-supporting extension on the covered garment hanger in use supporting a garment; and

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of one form of blank for forming the cover on the covered garment hanger of this invention.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is shown a covered hanger for supporting a garment 12, which might be a sweater, jacket, or the like.

The covered hanger 10 comprises a generally triangular frame 13 formed by an elongated wire bent to desired shape and a cover 14 for such frame. The frame 13 includes a downwardly sloping side 15, an elongated base 3,294,297 Patented Dec. 27, 1966 16, an upwardly sloping side 18, and a downwardly-opening suspension hook portion 20. The sides are joined to one another by wrapping or winding the free end of side 15 about a part of hook portion 20, as indicated at 19. The hanger is commonly formed from wire having a protective coating of paint thereon.

The cover 14 provided on the wire frame is preferably formed from relatively lightweight kraft paper. Heavier grade paper or light cardboard could be utilized, but in the interest of effecting maximum economy, lightweight paper is preferred. It is desirable to cover an enameled or painted wire hanger as commonly used in dry cleaning establishments in order to prevent harm to the clothes supported thereon in the event the hanger has rusted during storage and prior to use. The present invention not only covers the wire to prevent harm to clothing from rust, but also provides extended shoulder support for preventing undesirable creasing of the garment supported on the covered hanger 10.

Turning to FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, it is seen that the cover 14 is aflixed to the hanger in such manner as to provide a pair of upstanding shoulder-supporting extensions 22 and 24. These extensions are formed by bonding the overlapping edges 14a and 14b (FIGURES 2 and 3) of the cover 14 to one another above sides 15 and 18. The bonding rigidifies the edges so as to define erect extensions 22 and 24 which normally extend in a common plane with the cover when not in use. The at rest position of covered garment hanger is shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. FIGURE 3 shows a modification wherein the sides of the cover 14 are bonded to one another both above and below the sides 15 and 18 to further n'gidify the shouldersupporting extensions and for increasing the memory or resiliency of the extensions 22 and 24, that is, the tendency for the extensions to move toward upright position as shown in FIGURE 2.

In use, the Weight of the garment will cause the shouldersupporting extensions 22 and 24 to bend along a line substantially parallel to and coextensive with the sides 15 and 18 of hanger frame 13. The extensions are urged toward the upright position by the inherent resiliency resulting from joinder of edges 14a and 14b. As seen in FIGURE 4, the extension 22 will provide additional support for the shoulder of a garment and instead of substantial line contact between the hanger and the shoulder of the garment, there Will be extended surface contact. Creasing of the shoulder of the garment is thereby minimized. This highly desirable objective is obtained at a minimum of expense.

In FIGURE 5, there is shown a layout of a blank that can be used to make the cover 14. The blank may comprise an eight-sided polygon that is folded along a fold line indicated at 26 to form a pair of symmetrical sides. Preferably, the fold line is coextensive with the base 16 of frame 13 and the sides are proportioned such that the sides of cover 14 will overlap the top of the sides 15 and 18 of hanger 13. Adhesive is applied to the areas indicated generally at 28 and 30. Such adhesive may be applied at the time the blank is formed or the adhesive may be applied just prior to the time the blank is aflixed to the hanger form 13.

The covered hanger 10 may be formed by positioning the base 16 of frame 13 along the fold line 26 and folding the sides up symmetrically about the frame 13. The edges 14a and 14b are then bonded to one another as shown in FIGURE 3 or as shown in FIGURE 4 to form the extensions 22 and 24. The hook 20 Will extend from between the edge portions 14a and 14b. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the configuration of the blank of cover 14.

There has been provided by the present invention a useful and inexpensive covered garment hanger that not only protects the garment from imperfections in the hanger, but also provides shoulder supporting extensions extending from the top surface thereof for minimizing creasing in the shoulder region of a garment carried thereon.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention and, therefore, it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An improved hanger for supporting a garment comprising the combination of: a wire defining a generally triangular form having an elongated base and a pair of shoulder-supporting side members joined at an apex and having a downwardly-opening suspension hook portion extending from such apex, and a cover enclosing said triangular form and being constructed and arranged to provide extended surface support for a garment carried on said hanger to minimize creasing of the shoulder region of such garment, said cover comprising a paper sheet folded along an elongated fold line to form a pair of symmetrical side sections, the fold line engaging with and being substantially coextensive with said elongated base,

the top edges of said symmetrical side sections oppositesaid base overlapping and extending beyond said side members of said triangular form and being bonded to one another on the exterior of the triangular form for afiixing said cover on said hanger and for providing rigidified shoulder-supporting extensions extending upwardly from said side members of said hanger, said shoulder-supporting extensions being bendable along the associated side members of said wire for spacing the garment from the hanger and for providing extended surface support for a garment with a minimum of creasing in the shoulder region, said hook portion of said triangular form extending beyond said cover opposite said fold line.

10 of such garment, said cover comprising a lightweight paper sheet folded along a fold line to form symmetrical side sections, thefold line of the cover being substantially coextensive with said base, the top edges of said cover being generally parallel to said side members and extend- 15 ing beyond said side members and being joined to one another on both sides of said side members for forming shoulder-supporting extensions normally extending upwardly from said hanger and being adapted to be bent over to provide an extended surface for supporting the the shoulder region, said top edges being joined to one v another on the exterior of the side members of said triangular form and on the interior of the side members of 25 said triangular form for increasing the tendency of the extensions to move toward upright position in the plane of the triangular form.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,218,816 10/1940 Fleischer et a1. 22398 2,566,232 8/1951 Madsen 22398 3,001,675 9/1961 Aynes et a1 223-88 35 3,153,499 10/1964 Babiskin et al. 223-88 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. o. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner.

shoulders of a garment with a minimum of creasing in 

1. AN IMPROVED HANGER FOR SUPPORTING A GARMENT COMPRISING THE COMBINATION OF: A WIER DEFINING A GENERALLY TRIANGULAR FORM HAVING AN ELONGATED BASE AND A PAIR OF SHOULDER-SUPPORTING SIDE MEMBERS JOINED AT AN APEX AND HAVING A DOWNWARDLY-OPENING SUSPENSION HOOK PORTION EXTENDING FROM SUCH APEX, AND A COVER ENCLOSING SAID TRIANGULAR FORM AND BEING CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED TO PROVIDE EXTENDED SURFACE SUPPORT FOR A GARMENT CARRIED ON SAID HANGER TO MINIMIZE CREASING OF THE SHOULDER REGION OF SUCH GARMENT, SAID COVER COMPRISING A PAPER SHEET FOLDED ALONG AN ELONGATED FOLD LINE ENGAGING WITH AND METRICAL SIDE SECTIONS, THE FOLD LINE ENGAGING WITH AND BEING SUBSTANTIALLY COEXTENSIVE WITH SAID ELONGATED BASE, THE TOP EDGES OF SAID SYMMETRICAL SIDE SECTIONS OPPOSITE SAID BASE OVERLAPPING AND EXTENDING BEYOND SAID SIDE MEMBERS OF SAID TRIANGULAR FORM AND BEING BONDED TO ONE ANOTHER ON THE EXTERIOR OF THE TRIANGULAR FORM FOR AFFIXING SAID COVER ON SAID HANGER AND FOR PROVIDING RIGIDIFIED SHOULDER-SUPPORTING EXTENSIONS EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM SAID SIDE MEMBERS OF SAID HANGER, SAID SHOULDER-SUPPORTING EXTENSIONS BEING BENDABLE ALONG THE ASSOCIATED SIDE MEMBERS OF SAID WIRE FOR SPACING THE GARMENT FROM THE HANGER AND FOR PROVIDING EXTENDED SURFACE SUPPORT FOR A GARMENT WITH A MINIMUM OF CREASING IN THE SHOULDER REGION, SAID HOOK PORTION OF SAID TRIANGULAR FORM EXTENDING BEYOND SAID COVER OPPOSITE SAID FOLD LINE. 